Hebron man attempts to set himself on fire

HEBRON (Ma'an) -- A man tried to set fire to himself in Hebron on Tuesday, Ma'an's correspondent said.

Khaled Abu Rabee, 42, doused himself in gasoline after entering the municipality building in Dura, Hebron, but a security guard prevented him from setting the petrol alight.

Police arrived at the scene and are investigating the incident.

Abu Rabee, from al-Fawwar refugee camp, was reportedly struggling to make enough money to support two wives and feed his children.

Previously a member of the Palestinian Authority police force, Abu Rabee spent three years in Israeli jails and had worked as a taxi driver and other odd jobs to provide for his ten children, Ma'an's reporter said.

His most recent job was selling coffee at the entrance to al-Fawwar camp.

The incident comes after a teenager from Gaza died a day earlier from wounds sustained when he set himself on fire three days ago.

Ehab Abu Nada, 18, poured petrol on himself before setting himself alight near the Shifa hospital on Thursday, locals said.

His neighbors suggested he might have chosen to immolate himself at the hospital because he had wanted to make a gesture rather than kill himself, but medics there could not save him.

Locals said Nada had a heated argument before the incident with his father, who denied the reports.

"He left to seek work and he did not come back. My heart was shattered," his weeping father told a local radio station.

"We live in a miserable condition. We live in a rented house and I hardly can afford the rent," he added.

A police official from Hamas, which rules Gaza, said an investigation was under way into Abu Nada's death, citing unemployment as his possible motive.